Contactor



Apri 17, 1945D F. C. IGLEHART ETAL coNTAcToR Filed July 3l, 1942 INV WTNESSES:

WTORS' mmel.

` m ATTORNEY pained Apr. 11, 194s "2,374,017

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE coN'rAc'roR Ferdinand C. Iglchart and Ralph B. Immel, Wilkinsburg, Pa., assignors to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation o! Pennsylvania Application July 31, 1942, Serial No. 453,064

'I Claims. (Cl. F75-336) This invention relates to a contactor device arc extinguishing device associated with the main and, more particularly, to an improved electrocontrol contacts; magnetically operated switch. Fig. 3 is an elevational view from the left of the Switches having electromagnetic means for armature assembly shown in Fig. 1, the mountcontrolling the movement of the contact means ing for the auxiliary contacts being removed; and thereof between open and closed positions and Fig. 4 is an exploded bottom plan view of the the various parts going to make up such switches parts shown in Fig. 1 illustrating the manner in are well known in the art. However, such which the armature is interlocked with its sup- .switches heretofor havehad the common disadporting bracket and the manner in Whchithe asvantages of being large and cumbersome and of lo sembly may be attached to the switch unit. being diilicult to repair and adjust due to the in- Referring to Fig- 1 0f the drawing the various accessibility of the various parts for purposes of Parts of the SWitch are shown in assembled relarepair and replacement. In addition the comtionship on a main Supporting structure desigplicated construction of such switches has in nated by the numeral I. -The supporting strucmany cases necessitated the replacement of an l5 ture I is preferably l--shaped having a vertically entire switch when one of the working parts extending leg 2 and horizontally extending leg 3.

thereof became out of order or defective, The switch is shown as secured in position with Accordingly, one of the principal objects of this the leg 2 extending vertically thus providing e invention is to provide an improved form of elecgravitational bias Which Will assist in the movetromagnetic switch in which the various parte 2o ment of the movable contact from its closed to its thereof are arranged compactly and occupy a open position in a manner to be described. Howa minimum of space and in which such various ever, it Will be understood that the Supporting parts are readily accessible and removable for Structure may be mounted in any position depurposes of repair and replacement without the sired Without departing from the principles 0f necessity of removing or dismantling the entire this inventionswitch unit. The leg 2 of the L-shaped support I, constitut- A further object is to provide in an electroing a part of the magnetic circuit for operating magnetic switch an improved armature constructhe switch. has a core 4 and magnetizing coil 5 tion in which all the working parte thereof are asmounted on the core adjacent the inner surface of sembles cs a unit which may be dctachebiy the L-shaped support. An armature assembly mounted in position. indicated as a whole by the numeral 6 is con- A further object is to provide en improved nected to the leg 3 by suitable fastening elements armature assembly comprising a Supporting 'i and is provided with a movable contact 8, adaptbracket having interlocking engagement with the ed to engage with a stationary Contact 9 to cornarmature together with resilient means for pre- :l5 plete a control circuit in a manner well known in venting accidental disengagement of the armathe art- Contact 9 iS insulated from the support ture from the supporting bracket and for biasing l and is provided With magnetic blowout means the armature to a given position with respect to partially indicated by the numeral I0 and a blowthe supporting bracket. out chute II for extinguishing an arc drawn upon A further object is to provide an improved cux- 40 separation of the contacts 8 and 9. The coniliary contact unit which may be mounted closely struction of the magnetic blowout I0 and chute I I adjacent the main control contacts without danis Well known in the art and Der Se forms n0 Dart ger of striking an arc between the circuit of the 0f this invention. auxiliary controlled contacts and the circuit of The armature assembly 6 comprises a U-shaped the main control contacts, supporting bracket I2 having legs i3 and I4 of Other objects and advantages of tb s invention unequal length- AS best shown in Figs. 3 and 4 will become apparent from a study ci the followthe legs I3 and N are bifurcated thus providing ing description taken in connection with the ac- Separate pairs Of such legs- The longer legs I3 companying drawing in which; are provided with slots I5 through which screws Figure 1 is a side elevational view oi an electro- 50 'l may be Passed for engagement With threaded magnetic switch constructed in accordance with openings i5 formed in the leg 3 0f the support l. the principles of this invention; To assist in the aligning of the armature assem- Fig 2 is a top plan view of the unit shown in bly 6 with respect to the support i, the leg 3 is Fig. 1 showing the construction and arrangement provided with dowel pins Il' receivable in openof the auxiliary contact unit with respect to the ings la formed in the legs llt The armature is indicated by the numeral I9 disengagement in the case that it is desired to and is provided with a tongue 20 receivable in remove the armature I9 from the bracket I2.

notches 2| formed 1n the inner edges 0f the legs The movable contact 8 is carried at the end of I3. The portions 22 of the armature I9, extendan arm 29 adapted to have limited pivotal moveing laterally outwardly of the tongue 20, are 5 ment with respect to the amature I9. The end chamfered as best shown in Fig. l to provide a 30 of the arm 29 projects through an opening 3l pivot edge 23 receivable in the apex of a dihedral formed in the amature I9 and is adapted to pivot angular seat dened by the end surface 24 of the about the point 3Ia. 'I'he non-magnetic shield ieg 3 and the inner surface 25 of the leg I3. 32 secured to the bottom of the armature I9 for The pivot edge 23 coincides with the apex of 10 preventing sticking due to residual magnetism is the angular seat just mentioned in the showing angled as at 33 to prevent forward movement of of Fig. 1 and constitutes the axis about which the movable contact arm 29 and to maintain the pivotal movement of the armature I9 takes place. same seated at the pivot point 3|. A bracket 34v In order to provide a resilient bias for movl and spring 35 are provided for resiliently resisting the armature'l9 to the position shown in Fig., 15 ing pivotal movement of the arm 29 with re- 1 and to prevent accidental movement of the spect to the armature I3. 'Ihe construction and armature I9 to disengage the tongue 20 from the mounting of the movable contact arm 29 forms notches 2l, L-shaped bracket members 26 formed no part of this invention and the copending from non-magnetic material and coil springs 21 application of F, C. Iglehart, Serial No. 453,065. are provided. The bracket members 26 have one zu iiled July 31, 1942, may be referred to for a more leg 28 thereof securedto the upper surface of Acomplete description of such construction .and the armature I9 and the other leg 29 thereof mounting. l projecting upwardly into the space intermediate Interlocking or auxiliary contacts 36 of a type the legs I3 and I4. Springs 21 are anchored and for purposes well known in the art are carin position with their ends engaging facing sur- 25 ried by insulating arms 31 detachably connected faces of the legs I4 and 29 and are of such length to the armature I9 by screw fastening members that an initial compression is had when the 38. 'I'he auxiliary contacts 36 are adapted to parts are in the position in Fig. 1. Upon enerengage with the stationary contacts 39 carried by gization of the coil 5, the armature I9 will pivot the conducting supports 40 secured to a support in a clockwise direction due to the magnetic at- 30 4I formed from insulating material. The insutraction of the core 4 and will be moved to its lating support 4I is detachably connected to the closed position engaging the contact 8 with the leg 2 of the support I by removably fastening contact 9. Since the bracket I2 and legl I4 elements 42 as shown in Fig. 1. As best shown thereof is stationary, the pivotal movement of the in Fig. 2, an insulating shield 43 projects uparmature I9 through the legs 29 of the brackets 35 Wardly from and is integral with the support 4I. 26 will compress the springs 21. Such compres- 'Ihe insulating shield 43 is positioned between sion of the springs 21 will be effective to return the auxiliary contacts 36-39 and the blowout the armature I9 to the position shown in Fig. 1 chute II housing the main control contacts 9 upon deenergization of the coil 6. Movement of and 9. By reason of the provision of shield 43. the armature under its bias is limited by the legs lo the auxiliary contacts 36-39 may be positioned I4 whi-ch engage with the bracket legs 23 when closely adjacent the structure of the blowout the coil 5 is deenergized. By the arrangement of chute II without danger of striking an arc from the parts as shown in Fig. 1 there is provided the auxiliary contact circuit to the main contact a gravitational bias which assists the springs 21 circuit. Heretofore, it has been necessary to proin returning the armature I9 and associated 4: vide a considerable air space between the auxparts to their open position. iliary contact circuit and main control contact The bracket 26 being formed of non-magnetic structure in order to prevent the striking of such material provides a magnetic shield which cuts arcs. By the provision of shield 43 the necessity the bracket I2 out of' the magnetic circuit in of providing such an air space is eliminated and order that such part will not be eiective to '1 a smaller and more compact structure is proprevent operation of the armature I9. This vided. In addition the construction of the insushield may be placed at any point between the lating structure 4I and its mounting enables the vbracket I2 and support I or may be provided by removal of the auxiliary contacts with a miniforming the bracketvIZ from non-magnetic matemum of eiort for purposes of repair or replacerial. v 5.'. ment. l

It will be noted that the springs 21 serve a Ihe insulating arms 31 may be arranged so dual function in that they not only bias the that the contacts 36-39 open when the armaarmature and associated parts for pivotal moveture I9 is opened as shown'in Fig. 1, or vice versa.

ment to the position shown in Fig. 1, but also In Fig. 2 the armature I9 is shown in its open serve to prevent disengagement of the armature n position, and in this showing, it will be noted I9 from the bracket I2 and maintain the pivot that the supper set of contacts 36-39 are closed edge 23 seated in the apex of the dihedral angle and the lower set areopen. 1

defined by the surfaces 24 and'25. The construc- From the foregoing it will be apparent that tion and arrangement of the tongue 20, the slots there is provided a compact electromagnetic 2I and armature edges 22 provide an interlockc5 switch in which all of the parts are readily accesing engagement of the armature I9 with the sible and removable for repair or replacement.

bracket I2. This interlocking engagement per- It will be particularly noted that the armature mits only pivotal movement of the armature I9 assembly 6 may be assembled and mounted as a about its axis 23 and movement of the armaunit and that when mounted in position such ture I9 in a direction away from the axis 23 of 70 assembly contains a minimum of relatively movthe pivotal movement to move the tongue 20 ing partslikelytocause trouble. out of the slot 2|. The springs 21 are suflicient Since certain changes may be made in the t0 prevent accidental movement of the armature above construction, and dierent embodiments of I9 to move the tongue 20 out of the slot 2I but the invention may be made Without departing may be intentionally compressed to eiect such c'from the scope thereof. it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim as our invention:

1. An electromagnetic switch comprisng a stationary structure having a magnet core, a leg member spaced from said core and extending substantially in parallel thereto, and an angular abutment member having two arms, one of said arms being attached to and projecting from said leg member so as to form a dihedral angular pivot therewith, an armature having a knife edge at one of its ends for engaging said pivot so as to permit said armature rocking motions relative to said core, said abutment member having its other arm extending to the side of said armature away from said core and forming on said side a stop spaced from said pivot abutment in the direction toward said core for limiting said rocking motions, and a spring engaging said abutment member and said armature for biasing said armature against said stop and being arranged to exert a component force in a radial direction of said motion and toward said pivot for maintaining said edge in engagement with said pivot so that the attachment of said armature to said structure depends solely on the action of said spring.

2. An electromagnetic switch comprising a magnetic structure, a U-shaped bracket having one arm thereof connected to said structure, an armature pivotally movable about an axis adjacent said arm for movement between open and closed positions, said bracket having its other arm projecting inwardly toward said armature at a point spaced from said axis and forming a stop for limiting said movement toward one of said positions, a projecting member disposed on said armature adjacent said axis at the armature side away from said structure, and a coil spring disposed between said projecting member and said other arm adapted to be compressed upon movement of said armature by magnetic attraction to said other position so as to bias said armature toward said stop and said edge toward said seat.

3. An electromagnetic switch comprising a magnetic structure including a plate-like leg member, a U-shaped bracket having arms of unequal length, the longer arm of said bracket having its inner surface connected to the outer surface of said member, an armature pivotally movable between open and closed positions about an axis defined by the intersection of said inner and outer surfaces, the shorter arm of said bracket projecting inwardly toward said armature at a point spaced from said axis toward the periphery of the pivotal motion and forming a stop for limiting said motion, a projecting member on said armature disposed adjacent said axis at the armature side away from said leg member, and a coil spring disposed between said upwardly projecting member and said shorter arm so as to be compressed upon movement of said armature by magnetic attraction away from said stop.

4. An electromagnetic switch comprising a magnetic structure including a plate-like member, a U-shaped bracket having arms of unequal length, the longer arm of said bracket having its inner surface connected to the outer surface of said member, an armature plvotally movable between open and closed positions about an axis dened by the intersection of said inner and outer surfaces, the shorter arm of said bracket projecting inwardly toward said armature at a point spaced from said axis toward the periphery of the pivotal motion and forming a stop for limiting said motion, a. nonmagnetic member of substantial L -shape having one leg connected to said armature for engaging said stop and the other leg projecting away from said armature adjacent said axis, and a coil spring disposed between said upwardly projecting member and said shorter arm so as to be compressed upon movement of said armature by magnetic attraction away from said stop.

5. An electromagnetic switch comprising a magnetic structure including a plate-like leg member, a U-shaped bracket having arms of unequal length, the longer arm of said bracket having its inner surface connected to the outer surface of said member, an armature pivotally movable between open and closed positions about an axis defined by the intersection of said inner and outer surfaces, the shorter arm of said bracket projecting inwardly toward said armature at a point spaced from said axis toward the periphery of the pivotal motion and forming a stop for limiting said motion, a projecting member on said armature disposed adjacent said axis at the armature side away from said leg member, and a coil spring disposed between said upwardly projecting member and said shorter arm so as to be compressed upon movement of said armature by magnetic attraction away from said stop, said longer arm and said armature having interlocking parts dsengageable by radial movement of said armature away from its axis against the force of said spring so that the attachment of said armature to said structure depends solely on the action of said spring.

6. A switch having a stationary structure, a U-shaped bracket having one arm attached to said structure so as to form a dihedral angular pivot seat therewith and having a slot in said arm, an armature having a pivot edge and a tongue projecting into said slot when said edge engages said seat to prevent relative motions along said seat, and a spring disposed between said armature and the other arm of said bracket and forming the only means for holding said edge against said seat and said tongue in said slot in order to permit removing said armature by intentionally overcoming the force of said spring.

7. A detachable armature assembly comprising a U-shaped bracket having a slot formed in one arm thereof, an armature having a tongue projecting into said slot to interlockably engage said armature with said bracket, said tongue and slot connection permitting pivotal movement of said armature with respect to said bracket, an upwardly projecting member on said armature positioned intermediate the arms of said bracket, and a coil spring between said member and the other arm of said bracket adapted to be compressed upon pivotal movement of said armature in a given direction, said other arm extending toward said armature for limiting pivotal movement of said armature in an opposite direction, said spring being further compressible to allow movement of said armature in a direction to disengage said tongue from said slot and said armature from said bracket.

FERDINAND C. IGLEHART. RALPH B. IMMEL. 

